


Unexpected Circumstance

by hearts_0f_kyber (rw_eaden)



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Budding Love, Canon Universe, Convenient Excuses to Keep Two Characters Isolated Together, F/M, First Kiss, Huddling For Warmth, Hurt/Comfort, Kashyyyk, Partial Nudity, Webweavers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-01
Updated: 2019-02-01
Packaged: 2019-10-20 08:56:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17619368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rw_eaden/pseuds/hearts_0f_kyber
Summary: While on a mission for The Resistance on Kashyyyk, Rose happens upon an unconscious and badly injured crash survivor. She rescues him, and nurses him back to health, and in the process finds a man she hopes could be an ally - if not a little more.





	Unexpected Circumstance

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the StarWarsRareShipChallenge on pillowfort. The theme was planets and my prompt was Kashyyyk.

At first, Rose thinks what she’s encountered is an injured wookie. She’s been out, scouting the forest for an hour or so and she hasn’t seen much in the way of animal life. She thought the further she got from the wookie’s settlement, the more she’d see but so far it’s just been giant trees and the occasional bird. So when she sees the dark lump in the undergrowth she has to do a double take. It’s not a wookie, though, it’s a man. A man who’s badly injured, if the dark stains on the grass around him are anything to go by. 

Rose keeps one hand on her blaster as she takes a quick survey of the area. There is a trail of blood on the ground, leading out into the depths of the forest. There are fallen tree limbs about a kilometer out, and what looks like the wreckage of a single occupancy ship. The ship itself is too damaged to tell what it is, or was, rather, as most of it is in steaming pieces on the forest floor. Satisfied that it’s more or less safe, Rose rushes over to the crash’s lone survivor.  He’s face down in the dirt, not moving, but his skin is still warm. Rose presses her fingers to his neck and thankfully he’s still got a pulse. He’s alive, somehow. 

“Hey,” Rose says, “can you hear me?” 

No response. Of course not. 

Rose grabs his shoulder, pulling as best she can to at least get him on his back so he’s not breathing in dead leaves. It’s easier said than done though because this man is massive and all dead weight. With a little grunting and struggling, she manages to get the top half of him rolled over. His legs don’t seem to want to cooperate, and when she swings them over, the odd angle his right leg lands in shows her why. 

The poor man looks like hell. Dirt and small sticks stick to the dried blood tracks from his forehead down the bridge of his nose. He’s also frightfully pale, though that might be from blood loss. And then there’s that scar running down the left side of his face. That must’ve come earlier, but from what Rose has no idea. He must either be a warrior or a criminal with a scar like that. Rose hopes he’s a warrior. 

The black clothing he’s in makes it hard to tell where he’s bleeding from, but she can guess. His leg is broken and he’s got a head injury at the very least. The wet patch on his side is probably the cause for the trail he left. 

Rose shakes her head. “You sure picked a hell of a planet to crash on,” she tells him. Kashyyyk isn’t the worst place to be. The wookies are friendly and make great food, but the planet is not well suited for humans. Sure, the air is breathable and the water potable, but the wildlife is massive and dangerous and the trees are difficult to get into, even with ladders and stairs. On top of that, medical supplies are limited at best. Kashyyyk is still suffering from the days of the Empire and now that the First Order has taken over the galaxy there’s probably no chance of fixing that problem. What Rose has in her emergency first aid kit is going to have to do it, at least for now. 

First thing’s first, Rose has to make sure this guy isn’t going to die before they can get back to the treehouses. She gets down on her knees and peels back the fabric of his top.  There is a decent sized cut in the material and another across his skin. It’s not very deep, but it’s close enough to his ribs that it’s disturbed every time he breathes. It might not need stitches, but it is going to need to be cleaned and wrapped. And that leg is going to need a splint. Thankfully they’re not hurting for wood. 

Rose pulls some of the gauze from her first aid pack, soaking it with some of the water she’d remembered to take with her. She does her best to wipe the blood from the man’s wound before dressing it. It’s not ideal and she’d prefer to have better bandages but it will have to do for now. 

“Okay,” Rose says as she stands up, “I’m going to get something for that leg and something to get you up and moving. I’ll be right back. Stay here.” 

The man stays silent and still. 

“Right. You can’t go anywhere. Duh.” 

The sun is low in the sky by the time Rose finishes what she’s been doing. She needed to build a travois if she wanted to get her new companion anywhere, but that was easier said than done. She’d had a few emergency supplies on her, like a torch, a bit of rope, and a water filter, but nothing to actually support the stranger she was now taking care of. She only had one choice, and that was to dig through the wreckage of that crashed ship and hope there was something useful. She’d gotten lucky and was able to cut the fabric of the pilot’s chair off and tie it between two large logs. It isn’t ideal, but it will work. Probably. 

After the travois is built, Rose sets her companion’s leg and does her best to load him into the sling without hurting him worse than he already is. Her sling is just barely long enough, though he isn’t as straight and stable as she would like. 

“I really hope you don’t have a back injury,” Rose says as she lifts the joined end of the travois. It’s still heavy and a bit unwieldy, but it’s easier to drag behind her than it would be to do it any other way. 

Now she just needs to find someplace to make a shelter for the night. 

\----

Pain is never pleasant, but waking up because of it is a special kind of agony. Everything hurts. Whatever his body had done to prevent his awareness of just how bad he’d been injured in the crash had worn off now. He whines, involuntarily, as he tries to stretch and sit up. 

“Hey, hey, don’t move,” a woman’s voice says. It’s not one he’s heard before, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. She could easily be one of the pilots who were chasing him. 

Ben doesn’t listen, of course. He still tries to set himself up on his arms. 

“Hey!” The woman snaps, rushing over to his side. She’s definitely not First Order if the style of her hair is any indication. It’s too long for regulation and flips upwards at the ends. If Hux saw it he’d have a heart attack. “You’re going to ruin your bandages,” she says, pushing down on the middle of his chest. 

Ben’s too weak from the exhaustion and the pain to fight her, so he lets his arms give out and he falls back to the ground with a grunt. Whatever he’s laying on is not soft enough to prevent him from feeling the cold, hard ground under his back. He takes a deep breath, biting his lip to keep from crying out as he grows more and more aware of the sharp aches in his body. Breathing hurts, pulling at whatever injury is on his side. His leg aches and burns and he’s sure he’s broken it. He tries to concentrate on redirecting the pain, but he’s not sure how without tapping into the dark side, and that’s not something he wants to do at the moment. He’ll deal with it. Somehow. 

“I’m sorry,” the stranger says, “we don’t have a lot of medical supplies down here. I can give you something, but I might have to ration it.” 

“That’s fine,” Ben grits his teeth as he speaks. 

The woman rifles through a small med kit, tearing a small pain strip in half. “I only have ten of these,” she says, “try not to need more.” 

He chuckles, bitterly, then winces at the strain the action caused on his ribs. There was a time when he’d not only handle it on his own but use it to fuel all the angry, suffocating energy inside and around him. There was a time that this coddling would never have been allowed. As it is, he feels like a failure for not stopping the crash, for passing out on the forest floor. He’s one of the most powerful force wielders in the galaxy; a shipwreck should not have gotten the better of him. 

“Open your mouth,” the stranger tells him. 

“I can do it myself,” he snaps. 

The glare she levels at him could freeze oceans. “I’m going to assume that was because you’re in pain and grouchy, but if you snap at me like that again I’ll let the wookies eat you,” she says, holding the medicine strip out of his reach. 

“Wookies don’t eat humans.” 

“I’m sure there’s something out in the forests that would.” 

Ben can do nothing but acquiesce. He’s dependant on her charity, at least for now. That doesn’t stop him from rolling his eyes when she insists on giving the medicine to him, of course. Thankfully she does comment either. 

“We’re on Kashyyyk?” He asks as the pain killer starts to kick in. He still aches but it’s starting to fade into a dull roar, rather than a scream. 

“Yes,” she says. “You sounds surprised.” 

“I wasn’t exactly planning on winding up here,” he says. Truthfully, there was no plan outside of escape and try not to die in the process. One minute he was arguing with Hux, the next there were blaster bolts whizzing past his head. He didn’t have time to think, only to fight, until he got the Silencer into hyperspace. That’s when he realized that one of the engines was critically damaged, and dropping out of hyperspace would either cause it to explode or crash if it got sucked into the gravitational pull of a nearby planet. If it crashed, there was no guarantee he’d survive the landing, or that the planet would be hospitable, or that the natives wouldn’t eat him. It was a dice roll, and for once he’d come out lucky. 

“Who were you running from?” The stranger asks. She’s sitting on the ground in front of a pile of kindling, trying to get the wires she’s holding to short and start a fire. 

“The First Order.” 

He expects her to look at least a little surprised, but if she’s fazed she doesn’t show it. “Welcome to the outside world,” she says with a slight smile. 

“Thank you,” he says. 

“My name’s Rose. What’s yours?” 

“Ben.” 

The wires she’s been messing with finally give off enough of a to catch and a tiny flame starts to grow. Rose tends to the fire, careful not to smother its light. He stares as it flickers and dances, eventually latching on to larger logs and warming the air around them. It’s more mesmerizing than it out to be, and Ben realizes that it’s probably the medication just as he drifts back to sleep. 

\--- 

Ben doesn’t wake again until late morning of the next day after Rose has gone out in search of water and come back. There is a pond not too far from the cave she found, though the water is far too cold to spend too much time in. She’s used to bathing in cold water, though, so she stripped and rinsed off after collecting enough for her the collapsable filer and her canteen. Her hair is still wet when Ben wakes. 

At first, she’s worried he’s had some kind of reaction to the medication, with the way he tries to spring up off the ground and gasps when he can’t make it all the way up. His eyes are wild and his breath comes out in a sharp staccato. She rushes to his side before she can think better of it. 

“Hey, you’re okay,” she says, she tries to put her hand on his arm, to settle him, but before she’s being shoved back across the cave floor, almost like she’s being blown around by a strong wind. 

She’s too stunned to move back and can only stare at him for a moment. His eyes eventually focus, first on her, then on the way, he’s still holding his arm out in defense. “Kriff,” he mutters, dropping the outstretched hand to his face with a slap. 

“What was that?” Rose asks, a little breathless herself. The skin on her knees is starting to sting but she doesn’t want to check them just yet. 

“A nightmare.” He says, not answering her question. 

“I figured,” Rose says, “and the force thing? We’re just not going to talk about that?” 

“I’d appreciate it if we didn’t.” 

Rose wants to push. There are only a handful of force users left in the galaxy, at least as far as anyone is aware, so that narrows down his possible position in the First Order a bit. And though he can’t actually go anywhere, she’s pretty sure he’ll run as soon as he can if she doesn’t win him over a little. The Resistance needs as many fighters as they can get, and another force sensitive would be an excellent addition to their ranks. So she drops it, for now. 

“I’m sorry I startled you,” she says. 

His eyebrows scrunch together briefly like he’s not sure what to do with her. “I don’t sleep well,” he says. 

“I wouldn’t think so,” she says, “my friend, Finn, he was a stormtrooper. He still dreams about it sometimes. I can imagine it’s like that for most people in the First Order.” 

“I never said I was  _ in _ the First Order,” Ben says, his voice taking a darker, more urgent edge. Rose can’t tell if he’s angry or frightened. Probably both. 

“It was implied,” Rose says. He seems to calm a little, so Rose pushes her luck just a little. “And that decimated TIE in the forest is kind of a giveaway.” She smiles, hoping he recognizes that she’s teasing, just a little. 

Ben says nothing, staring up at the ceiling with his hands folded on his stomach. Rose is about to ask him if he wants any rations when he speaks again. 

“Is it really decimated?” 

“It’s ruined. I had to rip apart the pilot’s chair to make a decent sling to drag you here.” 

He lets out a soft breath that sounds suspiciously like a sigh. “That was one of a kind. It wasn’t even ready for full-scale manufacturing yet.” 

Well, that’s good at least. The last thing anyone needs is new starfighters in the First Order’s filthy hands. But Rose knows an opportunity when she sees one, so she takes it. “You were an engineer?” 

His eyes fall from the ceiling, back to her. “I - I was more of a finicky pilot. I took notes -  a lot of notes - on things that need to be improved. They listened.” 

“So an engineer.” 

His lips twitch in what Rose hopes is some kind of agreement. It’s hard to tell with this guy. 

“A ballsy engineer at that. I don’t know very many people who would test their own prototypes unless they were desperate.” 

“I’m an excellent pilot.” A small smile ticks the corner of his mouth then disappears in a flash. 

“Did they teach you?” 

All at once it’s like a dark cloud has descended over them, sucking the levity out of the air and replacing it with a spine chilling cold. 

“No,” Ben says. 

Rose definitely doesn’t push that one. 

\--- 

Ben sleeps what is probably the longest single sitting, uninterrupted sleep he’s had in the last twenty years. It’s still not very pleasant, though. When he’s awake, he’s focusing on healing his own wounds, though it takes more out of him that he thought it would. Between the medicine, Rose keeps giving him and the injuries he’s wrung out and nearly useless. It makes him antsy. 

On what may or may not be the third day since he woke up in the cave, Ben is finally able to pull himself up and actually sit with his back against the cave wall. It’s much harder than the cave floor, but the support is nice. He wipes the sleep and grit from his eyes to find Rose sitting by what remains of the fire, carefully turning skewered fish over the hot coals. 

“Welcome back to the land of the living,” Rose says with a tiny smile. It makes her cheeks even rounder than they usually are, and Ben can’t help but find it a little cute. 

“I died?” 

“No,” Rose chuckles, “it’s just something my mother used to say after I slept hard for a long period of time.” 

“How long was I out?” 

“On and off about three and a half days all total.” 

Ben groans, letting his head fall back a little too hard against the cave wall. 

“Got somewhere to be?” Rose asks. 

“No.” And isn’t that a strange thing? Being directionless and lost in this world isn’t a new feeling for Ben, but now it feels so… hollow. There’s nowhere he needs to be, but there’s also nowhere he can go. The First Order would kill him. The Resistance would kill him. His mother probably doesn’t ever want to see him again. For the first time in his life, he is truly on his own and it’s terrifying. 

Rose hums, eyeing him up and down. The low glow of the embers cast foreboding shadows over the soft shapes of her face. She’s a small woman, not anywhere near his height, but size is often deceptive. If she was able to drag him unconscious to wherever they are, she’s probably not one to be underestimated. “Well that’s good because I don’t know how long you’re going to be stuck here,” she says. 

“It shouldn’t take that long for the bone to heal,” he says like he has any idea how long it takes to naturally heal bones. 

“Sure, but getting off planet? Probably going to take a while. My contact won’t be back for a few weeks so…” 

“I won’t need your contact to get off planet.” 

“If you want somewhere safe to go where the First Order isn’t breathing down your neck, you do. They’ve got wanted posters for all defectors all over the galaxy. You can take your chances or you could come with me.”

“And where exactly would that be?” 

“The Resistance.” 

“No.” 

“Why not?” 

“I can’t. There’s no way.” 

“You know we’re not like them, don’t you? You don’t have to be afraid of us. We’re the ones fighting for peace.” 

“Peace,” Ben chuckles, “you know that’s what the First Order said, too? The first order was to restore stability to the galaxy, to unify it under one government and restore the rule of law. That’s what they said and whole worlds fell for it.” 

“The Resistance doesn’t want to rule. We want to restore the Republic and to restore freedom.” 

Ben snorts. “That’s a great idea. I’m sure they’ll do an excellent job providing security and stability for the outer rim planets. They were doing such a fine job of it last time.” 

“The First Order moved in and ran roughshod over the outer rim. If it wasn’t for them the outer rim  _ would _ be stable. They were the ones who shelled planets, not the Republic.” 

“And who’s fault is it that the First Order was able to do that?” 

“They had a lot of restoration to work on. They can’t do everything at once.” 

“In thirty years they couldn’t be bothered to actually listen to the concerns of anyone but the wealthy systems. Why bother to restore a system that’s corrupt? Why restore a system that ignores slavery and organized crime?” 

“I don’t know, why did you want to restore the Empire?” Rose asks, a smirk on her lips. 

He’d just played right into her hand, hadn’t he? She had a point of course, as loathe as he was to admit it. 

Ben huffs. “That wasn’t - it wasn’t supposed to be like that.” If he were honest with himself, he’d swallowed the First Order’s lies without much thought. He didn’t have a choice, really. It was believe them or ask questions and suffer for it. And when he found himself in charge of it all with much different ideals and no heart to carry on with their intended plans, well, that’s why he’s in a cave of Kashyyyk with a broken leg. 

“They lied to you,” Rose says. “But if it makes you feel better, I think something should be done about slavery and crime lords, too. But the First Order isn’t going care. The Republic is our only hope.” 

“You really believe that, don’t you?” He asks. 

She nods, resolute. “I grew up on Hays Minor,” she says, a little quieter than before. “It’s was a mining planet until the First Order showed up. They forced us to mine for them and they stole children to turn into weapons. My parents,” she gulps, “they smuggled me and my sister off the planet just before it was shelled.” She sniffles, and though Ben can’t see her face well in the dark, he knows she’s at least tearing up. “My sister died fighting for what she believed in. The Resistance, the Republic, and our freedom. That’s why we have to win. No one else should have to lose the people they love.” 

“I’m sorry,” Ben says. And he genuinely is. He can feel the anguish and pain in the Force around her, but even if he couldn’t it wouldn’t change how badly he feels for her. This kind of loss isn’t what he wanted. Some loss of life is to be expected in war, but innocents… the destruction of whole planets for no other reason than a display of force is atrocious. For all their bluster about stability and order and peace, the First Order didn’t care any more than the Republic had. Possibly less. 

Rose says nothing. She only nods and pulls the fish away from the fire, handing one to him before adding more wood to the embers. It catches quickly, and the cave is soon awash in the orange light that dances and twirls with the shadows on the cave walls. 

Ben stares at the little fish on the stick. He should eat, but he’s not hungry. Not now. 

“My mother was a Senator,” he says, in lieu of eating, “everyone loved her. When I was a child she seemed like a goddess. She was so firm in her convictions but not unkind. She was a whole fleet’s worth of firepower all on her own. And nothing scared her. Nothing but me. My parents thought I was a monster so they sent me away. I thought I could prove to them that I wasn’t what they thought I was, that I could be better. But I couldn’t.”

He sighs, pushing his hair out of his face. It’s stringy and gross from three days worth of sweat and blood and who knows what else. “I had nowhere else to go. I never thought about what they said, or why it didn’t match with what they did. I suppose a part of me wanted to get back at the Republic for taking my mother. Maybe if she hadn’t been so busy she might’ve seen - but I’m not. She was right. I’ve brought nothing but suffering.” 

“You don’t look like a monster to me,” Rose says. 

“You don’t know what I’ve done.” 

“Maybe not,” she says, “but you can’t live in the past. If you weren’t a good man yesterday, you can try to be a better one tomorrow.” She says it like it’s the easiest thing in the world like he isn’t a patricidal ex-despot. He doesn’t have the heart to argue, so he eats the fish instead. 

\---

“If you caught fish there must be a river or pond nearby. And if there’s a river or a pond that means I can at least wash my hair,” Ben says. 

After dinner last night he stayed awake for a while, apparently sick of sleeping. It’s not like Rose could really blame him, though. If she’d been asleep for almost a week she wouldn’t be anxious to spend more time out of it, either. But, as he’s no longer in that much pain he’s starting to get restless. He doesn’t talk much, but it’s clear that he’s not used to being unable to do anything for long periods of time. He doesn’t sigh or comment on his obvious boredom, though, which Rose is grateful for. 

“I don’t think you should walk on that leg,” Rose says, “and unless you can hover that’s the only way to make it down to the pond.” 

“I’ll hop,” he says. 

Rose only rolls her eyes. That’s another thing about her new companion that she hadn't exactly been expecting. He’s about as stubborn as an old nerf when she even tries to help him with anything. It might be insulting to some, but she gets the impression that he’s just not used to being taken care of and it probably makes him uncomfortable. And isn’t that a sad thought. 

“No, you won’t,” Rose says, “and it’s too cold for you anyway.” 

“I can handle cold water.” 

“If I bring water back in the filter I can heat it by the fire and it’ll be much nicer for you. You won’t have to hop and you won’t freeze to death.” 

Ben pushes back against the cave wall, pulling himself to his full height. He hisses when his right foot hits the ground before he can bend the knee. “If you don’t show me where it is, I’ll find it myself.” 

Rose rolls her eyes. “And you’ll fall on your face in the middle of the woods. Again.” 

Ben hops towards the entrance of the cave, leveraging his weight against the wall as he does. Rose lets him get about as far as the entrance before she follows behind. Predictably, he wobbles and nearly falls forward the second he doesn’t have anything to support him. 

“You know, if I offered half the men in the Resistance a sponge bath they wouldn’t even question it,” she says. 

“I’m not half the men in the Resistance,” he says. 

Rose snorts. “Really? I hadn’t noticed.” She wraps an arm around his waist, “you’re big enough to be,” she mutters to herself. If he hears her he doesn’t comment. 

It’s slow goings as they make their way to the pond, which Rose doesn’t mind. Ben, however, seems to be growing more and more frustrated as they go. He’s grunting and grumbling under his breath and it makes Rose want to just knock him out and drag him back to the cave but that’s not going to happen. Why he’s so intent on being so independent is beyond her. 

The pond is sheltered on three sides by large grey boulders with a small clearing on the other side. It doesn’t get enough sun to compensate for the shadows the boulders through across its surface, but it’s relatively clear and clean. Not clean enough to drink raw, but clean enough to bathe in. When they reach the edge, Ben rests his back against a straight slab of rock. He’s breathing hard and his face is red, but he doesn’t look like he’s about to pass out so Rose takes it as a win. 

“Do you need help getting undressed?” Rose asks. 

Ben sputters and coughs, shaking his head furiously. “No, I can do that myself.” 

“Your leg is still broken. Do you really think it’s going to be easy to get your pants off by yourself?” 

If she thought he was red before, that was nothing compared to the color on his cheeks now. He’s the same color as emergency warning lights. 

“I can do it myself.” 

Rose frowns at him. “You could hurt yourself.” 

“I don’t want you too,” he says. 

Rose levels him with a look that she hopes conveys just how ridiculous he’s being. It’s not like Rose has never seen a naked man before. It’s one of those things you get used to when living in close proximity to a lot of other people, especially other people who tend to get injured a lot. 

Ben though, can’t look at her long enough to see her disapproval. “Please just turn around,” he asks, sounding much smaller than he actually is. 

Oh! He must be shy. And that - that’s a little weird. He’s certainly not her usual type but there’s no denying he’s a handsome man. She finds the little beauty marks scattered across his face particularly charming. And his dark eyes that betray a gentle soul are definitely easy to get a little lost in. The idea that this man hasn’t gotten attention from women, or men, or both, is a little hard to believe. But then again, he was part of a war machine. Even though he wasn’t a trooper, Rose has a hard time imagining the First Order allows or encourages any kind of personal relationships. 

“Okay,” Rose says, “but if you sound like you’re hurt or need help I’m going to help.” 

Ben’s lips pinch together as he nods. Rose does as she said, and turns around. Behind her, he grunts and grumbles and rustles both the litter on the ground and fabric. When she hears him splash into the water, she walks towards one of the lower boulders that border the pond and sits, resting her arms and chin on it. Ben is in the water up to his waist, watching her out of the corner of his eye. 

“Don’t worry, I can’t see anything,” she says. Which is technically a lie. If she were looking, she probably could, but he’s shy and awkward and practically a stranger and she respects his privacy. He’s no longer wrapped in bandages around his waist - she took those off yesterday - and in the light of day, all of his old scars are on display. The gash on his side is healing nicely, scabbed up but not red with infection. The other scars, though, those are more worrisome. There’s a circular burn in his shoulder and the cut across his face trails down across his other shoulder. And then there’s the starburst on his other side. That one looks horrible, all pink and withered and like whatever he was struck by should’ve killed him. 

“I can feel you staring you know,” Ben says, wading deeper into the water. 

“Sorry, I just… what happened to you?” Rose asks. 

“Battle and bad decisions.” His voices is somber, and though he’s always a little more serious than she’s used to, there’s a different level of sobriety in his words. Maybe it’s regret, maybe pain, maybe both. 

He ducks under the water and stays there. For a minute, Rose contemplates diving in after him, but he pops up before she moves to strip her shoes off. He shakes the water out of his hair like a wet dog, his nose scrunched up when it sticks to his face. Rose laughs. 

“What?” He asks, squinting at her. 

“Nothing. You just remind me of a dog shaking his fur out.” 

Ben frowns before making a slight movement with his wrist. A small wave of water comes up, splashing Rose right in the face. 

She’s definitely a little startled, and if the mortified look on Ben’s face is anything to go by, he’s startled that he did it. They just stare at each other for a moment, both soaking wet and looking like drowned rats. The Rose laughs and splashes him back. 

Somehow they wind up in an all-out war with each other, Ben swimming backward to get away and Rose running around the rocks to get him from behind. It’s silly and they both wind up giggling at each other until their breathless. 

“I haven’t had this much fun in years,” Ben says after he catches his breath. Rose is sitting on a high rock, looking down at him while he smiles openly. He looks young like this and much different from when he’s so stiff and serious. Rose wonders, briefly, if this is what he’d be like all the time if things had gone a little differently for him. 

“Yeah,” Rose sighs. 

\----

There was one major oversight to convincing Rose to take him to the pond, Ben realizes. Getting in the water was easy, but getting out is going to be difficult. 

“What’s wrong?” Rose asks from high above. 

“Uhm. You don’t have a towel, do you?” He asks. 

“Nope. Usually, I just sunbathe until I can put my clothes back on.” 

“Oh,” Ben says. He’s definitely not trying to picture Rose, laying out on the rocks while the sun warms her tan skin, but it’s there nonetheless. “I’m not going to do that,” Ben says. 

Rose shakes her head. “So what’s your plan then?” 

“I’ll just… get redressed. There’s a fire in the cave. I shouldn’t be too cold.” 

The look on her face says she doesn’t think it’s going to work, but she doesn’t comment. “Do you need help out?” 

“No.” 

“Would you tell me if you did?” 

“...yes.” 

Rose rolls her eyes and hops off the rock. “If you fall over I’m going to help you whether you want me to or not,” she warns. 

It’s simple then, he just won’t fall. 

Getting out of the water proves to be just as challenging as getting in. Maybe a little more because now he’s wet that doesn’t mix well with slick rock. He manages to get out of the pond and get his legs in his pants before he loses his balance and just barely misses falling right back into the water. 

Rose is in front of him in an instant, holding his arms and keeping him steady. “I got you,” she says. She’s strong, despite how her height might suggest otherwise. She helps his straighten up and support himself on a rock before handing him his top. He can tell the second she realizes that his pants are half undone by the way she jerks her eyes away. Because that’s just what he needs at the moment: to have a cute girl see him with his pants down. At least she has the grace to not say anything. 

“I’m helping you with your boots,” she says. 

“I -” 

“Fell over trying to get out of the pond. I’m helping with your boots.” 

He doesn’t argue, but he does refuse to look at her while she’s kneeling in front of him. He’s usually not this kind of man. He doesn’t think about sex or women or anything else on a regular basis. Granted, he hasn’t exactly been around many attractive women in the past seven years or so. Maybe it’s because he’s thirty and has kisses exactly one girl in all his life - if you could call a scared peck on the lips a kiss. Maybe it’s because Rose doesn’t look at him like he’s anything but a man. To her, he’s not Kylo Ren: Jedi killer, failed dark sider, destroyer of families and ineffective dictator. He’s just some guy she happened upon in the forest. He’s just Ben.

He can’t remember the last time he was just Ben. 

With his boots successfully strapped on and the rest of his clothes in order, Rose and Ben make the slow hobble back to the cave they’ve been held up in. He is frankly exhausted by the time he’s back in his familiar spot against the wall. Usually, he wouldn’t be, but between the strain of walking on one leg, screwing around in the water, and splitting his focus to try and heal his leg faster, he’s worn out. 

Rose doesn’t seem to mind, however, as she builds them yet another fire on the cooling ashes of the last one. She doesn’t look up from her task for quite a while, and when she does, she frowns. “Ben, you’re shivering.” 

He is. Just a little but he is. “‘S fine,” he says, trying to keep his teeth from hitting together. 

Rose levels him with a flat look. “You wouldn’t be if you weren’t in wet clothes.” 

Ben barely resists the urge to cross his arms over his chest like a petulant child. “The fire will take care of it.” 

Rose is not satisfied by this, and she gets up only to plot down right next to him. 

“What are you doing?” He asks, his voice only trembling a little bit. 

“Huddling for warmth,” she says, pressing herself against his side.

He freezes, not completely sure what to do about this. Well, he knows, in theory, that sharing body heat is a good idea when in this kind of situation, but know something intellectually and then having to face it are two different things. 

Rose doesn’t let him out of it, though. She moves his arm, wrapping it around herself as she does the same to him. 

“Are you alright?” She asks, “your heart is beating pretty fast.” 

Of course, she’d be able to hear that. Ben swallows. “I’m fine.” 

“Do they allow close relationships in the First Order?” Rose asks like she can see straight through him. 

“No,” Ben says. “Not at all.” 

“You just act like a scared tooka cat any time I get too close,” she says. 

“Getting close to another person hasn’t exactly worked out in my favor,” he says. 

“What happened?” The firelight reflects in Rose’s eyes as she looks up at him. 

“I was ordered to kill them,” he says. 

“Did you?” 

Ben’s chest tightens and it’s so much harder to breathe. “The first time. Not the second.” 

She tugs herself tighter to him. “You’re not there anymore,” she says. 

“Not physically, but I’m never really going to leave.” 

Maybe it’s the light in her eyes, but Ben could swear there’s something fiery gleaming in her irises. Whatever it is, it makes her look a lot more dangerous than she ever has. It makes her look like a fighter, not just a kind young woman with a friendly face. 

And then she kisses him. 

He makes a very embarrassing sound when it happens, and his brain takes too long to communicate to the rest of him that he needs to do something in response. She pulls away, looking more than a little disappointed. 

“I’m sorry, I -” 

She doesn’t get to finish her sentence because, finally, he responds and kisses her back. She doesn’t pull away. 

\---- 

Things change over the next few days. Rose isn’t sure what possessed her to kiss Ben, but she did it and luckily he kissed her back. Eventually. Now it’s… well, it’s different. Ben’s still very quiet and a little apprehensive, but they’ve kissed at least twice since the first time and he doesn’t pull away when she snuggles next to him to sleep. 

A small, selfish little part of her hopes that when Chewie gets back from his supply run that Ben will go with her. He doesn’t seem to want to get involved with the war again, but Rose knows he’d be a great asset. He’s definitely gifted when it comes to understanding of machinery and his creativity could potentially bring something new to the ships they’ve been flying for years. And there’s the force sensitivity. Rey has refused to recruit for the Resistance, but he’s an adult. He could make that choice for himself. And honestly the more Jedi they have on their side the more likely they are to defeat Kylo Ren. 

And there’s also the possibility of continuing whatever’s just starting to blossom between the two of them. It would be a shame to lose this so early. 

As Rose carries the water she’d collected back into the cave she nearly drops it because of what she sees. Ben is standing, on both legs, fiddling with the comm she’d left behind. 

“How are you standing?” She asks, setting the filter to the ground. 

“My leg isn’t broken anymore?” He stops what he’s doing to look down at her. 

“How is that even possible?” She thought he’d been healing fairly fast, but she was under the impression that bones took a few weeks to heal naturally. 

“I’m force sensitive,” he says. 

“Wait, you can do that?” 

He nods, holding out the comm to her. “Someone’s been trying to get ahold of you for the past few minutes,” he says. 

“Who?” 

A growl comes from the other side of the comm and Ben tips it towards her again. “Whoever she is.” 

“Well, she’s just going to have to wait. I don’t speak Shyriiwook and they don’t seem to understand basic.” 

Ben makes an awful, guttural growl into the comm. 

“You speak Shyriiwook?” 

“Yes. I have since I was a child.” 

The comm growls back. 

“She says your contact is five hours out.” 

Rose can only shake her head and laugh. “We’ve been stuck in this cave for almost two weeks and this whole time you could talk to the wookies.” 

“I didn’t know you couldn’t.” 

“Why do you think we were out here?” 

“Kashyyyk is a big planet. How was I supposed to know we were close to a city?” 

Rose really laughs then, hugging her sides. “Well, at least we’ll get to sleep on something comfortable tonight.” She sets to work gathering the supplies she hasn’t used up and stuffing them back in her emergency first aid kit. 

Ben stands around a little awkwardly, flexing his fists like he’s trying to figure something out. “Can we… can you show me the wreckage of my ship?” He finally asks as Rose is kicking dirty onto their fire. 

“I guess I could, but there’s really nothing left of it.” 

“I believe you, I’m just hoping there’s something there that I need.” 

“Whatever you need, I’m pretty sure we can get it somewhere else.” 

“No,” he says, looking awfully serious, “we can’t get this anywhere else.” 

“I guess, but we should make it quick. I want an actual lunch.” 

He’s limping a little as he walks, but it’s probably just as well for Rose. His legs are absurdly long as it is, so a little limping means she doesn’t have to jog to keep up with him. It doesn’t take that long to get to the wreckage, but it’s still enough to leave Ben grimacing. They’re going to have to take it a little slower on the way back to the wookie city. 

Ben just sort of stands there for a moment, taking in the disaster before him. “The missiles didn’t explode at least,” he says. 

“That thing had missiles?” 

Ben nods. 

“Isn’t that insanely stupid on a  TIE?” 

“Usually,” Ben says, walking around to what used to be the nose of the ship, “But the engines weren’t right under the pilot’s chair like and the missiles were far enough off that they taking a hit to one of the engines wouldn’t be a death sentence.” 

“That should’ve been a no brainer,” Rose says. 

“TIEs weren’t built for safety, they were built for speed. Plenty of oversights, though, like the inability to see what’s right above you. The Silencer was designed to be fast, quiet, and deadly to anyone but the pilot.” 

“Silencer,” Rose mutters. That sounds familiar. Why does that sound familiar? 

Something rustles in the trees and Rose startles. Ben, however, doesn’t seem to notice it. He’s too busy walking through the debris in a slow circle. 

“What are we looking for?” Rose asks. 

“Cylinder. About this big,” he holds two fingers about thirty or so centimeters apart, “two smaller vents on the top. If you find it, don’t touch it.” 

“What color?” 

“Black.” 

“Well, that’s going to be easy to find,” Rose snarks. 

“It’s here. I know it is.” 

The rustling in the forest grows louder, and Rose hopes it’s just a group of wookies. She’s never seen the creatures that wander these forests, but she’s heard enough to scare the hell out of her. She tries to ignore it while she and Ben look for his mystery cylinder but it only gets louder. 

“Ben, there’s something in the forest,” Rose says in a hushed whisper. 

“There’s always something in the forest,” he says. 

“No, it’s getting closer.” 

Ben spots, apparently listening this time. “Then we better hurry,” he says. 

They don’t have enough time to find whatever Ben’s looking for. The first thing Rose sees is a giant, hairy leg coming out of the tree line. The second is eight enormous black eyes, all focused on the two of them. 

“Ben!” Rose whisper-shouts, “there’s giant spider looking right at us.” 

Ben spins around, muttering a curse under his breath. 

“Do we run?” Rose ask, only realizing after she’s said it that Ben can’t run. 

“Don’t make any sudden movements. It might charge,” Ben says. 

Rose nods. “We could fire the missiles?” 

“Do you really want to get into that rat’s nest of wire?” 

“I’d rather that then get eaten.” 

Ben’s still moving, very slowly, but he’s still moving towards the tail end of the ship. “It might not matter in a minute,” he says. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Rose says, much louder than she intended. 

Of course, that sets the spider off, and it scurries forward on its gangly legs. Rose screams, running around the ruined ship to meet Ben on the other side. She tries to pull him with her, but he refuses to budge. 

“Come on!” Rose says, “we have to get out of here.” 

“Then run,” Ben says, breaking away from her grasp. 

“You’ll die!” She shouts. The spider is getting closer and closer, it’s movements crunching the forest litter in a sick staccato. 

“Go!” He says, shoving her back across the forest floor with assistance from the Force. She collides with a tree root and tumbles over backward. 

“No!” She hollers, just as the spider reaches the wreckage. 

It must not notice Ben but it definitely notices her. It steps over the ship like it’s nothing, rushing towards Rose. It makes an ear-splitting shriek, bearing black fangs that drip with poison that burns the ground as it hits. 

Rose tries to get up, to run, but she can’t do more than scoot away on her back. This is how she’s going to die then. She’s going to be eaten by a spider. She just hopes its venom will kill her quickly. 

She’s not sure when she closes her eyes, but she doesn’t see the spider approach. She does hear another awful shriek, an earth-shaking thud. The noises are horrible, searing themselves to her ears as she listens. It lets out one last howl that withers and dies in the air and then, nothing. 

She doesn’t feel the spider’s fangs pierce her skin or the spiny hair from its legs on her body. There’s just nothing. Nothing, except the low hum of plasma crackling in the air and the smell of singed meat. 

Rose finally opens her eyes. There’s carnage all around her, the spider in pieces not three meters away from her. And then there’s Ben, standing between her and what was probably the spider’s head, tall and fierce. She is just about to thank him when she notices what’s still in his hand. One red, crackling lightsaber. 

Rose pops onto her feet and draws her blaster. “You!” She hisses. She’s never seen it in person, but she’s definitely heard enough about it to know that only one person has a lightsaber like that: Kylo Ren. 

The saber hisses and he shuts off the blade. “Rose, you have to understand -” 

“You… scum sucking moof milker!” 

“I was going to tell you -” 

“Liar! You liar! Was this your game the whole time,” she walks closer, jerking her blaster towards his chest, “get some poor sap to feel sorry for you so you could destroy the rest of the Resistance?” 

She very adamantly tries to keep herself from crying. 

“No, Rose -”

He tries to take a step forward, but she jerks her blaster again and he stops. “All those sad stories about you. I felt sorry for you! And you got me talking about myself. I - “ she nearly gags, thinking about the fact that she’s slept in the arms of the enemy for the past few nights. “You disgust me.” 

Kylo sighs, looking for all the world like a kicked puppy. “I never lied to you, Rose.” 

“Not telling me you were the Supreme kriffing Leader is a pretty big lie!”

“I’m not. Not technically. Not anymore.” 

“Oh why, because some girl batted her eyes at you and now you’ve changed? I’m not an idiot.” 

“No, because they staged a coup and ran me off.” 

“They made a good decision,” Rose snarls. 

“I never wanted this. I never wanted any of it. I was just a scared idiot who ran to the wrong person. And he used me. He made me do unspeakable things, Rose.” 

“You seized power the moment it became available to you. Don’t try to pretend you’re a victim.” 

“Do you know how Snoke died?” 

“Rey killed him.” 

“No, I did. Because he told me to kill her. I killed him because I wasn’t going to kill another person I cared about for him.” 

Rose shook her head. She was crying now, and try as she might she couldn’t keep the tell out of her voice, “you’re lying.” 

“I’m not,” he says, “I killed my master. And then I took power because what else was there to do? She left me to die.” 

“You tried to destroy the Resistance. I nearly died in that battle.” 

“I did.” 

“You killed Luke Skywalker.” 

“No, he was a projection, a distraction. He died on his own terms, to prove a point to me. Nothing I could’ve done would’ve killed or saved him.” 

“Why would Luke Skywalker give a damn about you?” 

“Because I’m his nephew.” 

Rose shakes her head. 

Ben nods in response. “It’s true. My mother was a Senator who everyone loved until they found out the truth about our family. About who her father was. She never told me either, by the way.” 

“General Leia wouldn’t -” 

“Has she ever mentioned she has a son?” 

“No,” Rose had to admit. 

“Then why would she tell me anything. I didn’t choose this for myself, Rose. Everyone else made it seem like I didn’t even have a choice. My own mother thought I was a monster when I was ten. The worst thing I’d done at ten was accidentally break a vase or two. My uncle thought I was too far gone to save. If the man who thought Darth Vader was worth saving didn’t believe in me what choice did I have?” 

Ben’s eyes are red and his cheeks are wet. “I’ve done terrible things, Rose. I can’t pretend I haven’t. But the First Order will keep going, with or without me. And more worlds will be destroyed and more planets will die and there will be no escape. So believe me or not, it doesn’t actually matter. You still have a bigger enemy to fight.” 

“You think because they’re still awful that it makes you somehow less bad?” 

“No, of course not,” Ben says. “If you want to kill me, just do it. I’m tired of living in the dark and I’m tired of being the monster. If that’s all I am, then just put us all out of our misery.” 

Rose’s breath shakes as she stares at him. He’s not lying, as far as she can tell. And deep down she knows that if this really was a ploy to get closer to the Resistance crash landing on Kashyyyk and passing out on the forest floor was probably the dumbest way to do it. And he isn’t a dumb man from what Rose knows of him. And he did save her life. 

Rose lowers her blaster. “Is your name really Ben?” 

“Ben Solo,” he says. 

Rose sighs. “I’m going to have to take you back to the Resistance, you know. For one, it won’t be safe for you as the former Supreme Leader. For two, I’m sure General Leia would like a word.” 

Ben gulps, nodding. “The galaxy will want a public execution.” 

Rose scoffs. “Who said anything about killing you?” 

“I just figured -” 

“We’re the good guys. We don’t do that kind of thing.” 

Ben looks a little uncertain, so Rose keeps talking. “I’ll vouch for you. I meant what I said about you being a valuable asset.” 

Ben nods, eyes downcast. 

Rose holsters her blaster. She walks right up to him, wrapping her arms around his middle. “They won’t try anything if it means going through me to do it.” 

Ben slouches, resting his chin on the top of her head. “I hope you’re right.” 

She pulls away, just far enough to give him a quick kiss. “I know I am.” She believes that. She has to. 

  
  



End file.
